Promotional poster for the movie “Al-Harifa” (social networking sites)

On the threshold of the cinema, it was difficult to choose between one of the international films on the screens and an Egyptian film called “Al-Harifa”, starring new young faces. Watching the film may seem like an adventure, but a few minutes after the start of the screening you discover that you will experience pure pleasure in a unique cinematic state. .

After several minutes of watching the extravagant atmosphere of a rich family, and specifically with the beginning of the appearance of “Omar,” the student who appears to be a good student at “Al-Batal Secondary School for Boys,” laughter began to spread among those present in the hall, and with the sudden entry of the rest of the characters, the details take you back to memories of public high schools. .

Usually, these films based on the idea of ​​the presence of the “corrupt group” in schools, with their diversity between the controlling, the lost, and the bully, young people escaping from classes and hitting others, seem to know the results even before they begin, but in the movie “Al-Harifa,” its author, Iyad Saleh, chose this time to come with stories that contradict expectations. Starting with the hero, the football player in the most prestigious clubs in the capital, who started his life rich and then became poor to play in the street league, all the way to the choices of this school group that brought us back to the authentic Egyptian values ​​​​based on interconnectedness and protection, and not on the rooting of loss and “fancy.” You are here in a different kind of match, in which the organizers chose to adhere to the fair play plan and bet on talented people, looking for success that depends on performance and leaving a real mark.

Star making craftsmanship

The film revolves around football, a smart choice by those in charge of the work, because who doesn’t love football?! The one that people from all over the world come together to love to create a universal spoken language in victory and defeat. It is loved by rich and poor, old and young.

And here it combines “Majid,” a name that takes us back to that famous childish “cartoon” work, “Captain Majid,” and “Shishtawi,” “Hatta,” “Nissa,” “Omar,” and Professor “Shalash,” and each of them has a story infused with the flavor of “pretentiousness.” “Egyptian. These young men each have a point of distinction that makes them skilled at performing their role with distinction, despite it being the first experience for most of them.

Nour Al-Nabawi, who embodies the character Majid, is at the top of the movie poster, slightly larger than his colleagues, perhaps because he has accumulated a degree of stardom in several television works over the past years compared to his colleagues, and perhaps because he is the hero of the story, and although everyone here was heroes just like in football, This does not prevent the presence of a scorer and captain for the team, but he cannot create his goal alone. Rather, he must pass the ball, receive it and wait for the appropriate time to shoot. Thus, Nour Al-Nabawi won his first cinematic championship and achieved great success in a short time, despite the burden of a heavy legacy as the son of a famous artist, “Khaled Al-Nabawi”, who carries his delicate features, but he appeared with a different spirit and a performance far from that space that his father played in his roles.

The heroes of the movie “Al-Harifa” (from right) Nour Al-Nabawi (left) Abdul Rahman Muhammad (social networking sites)

Ahmed Ghazi, who played the role of “Al-Shishtawi,” is a young actor with diverse abilities. He knows his potential well, and how to show his spirit without affectation. He played several roles in Egyptian television productions, such as the role of “Othman” in the series “The Imam’s Message,” and participated in the series “Dharb Nar” and the movie “The Choice 2,” in addition to other works.

Ghazi did not repeat a single role in his television appearances, but rather presented a variety of different roles and distinguished himself in his performance between the addict and the son of the country. He took a different step ahead of his colleagues by participating in British series, the most important of which is “The Crown,” in its fifth season, shown on the Netflix platform, in the role of a young Adnan Khashoggi. In “Al-Harifa,” he presented an elaborate workmanship to the character of “Ibn al-Balad,” supported by his pride and his family, who knows the values ​​of the neighborhood and the consequences of being an official despite his educational failure and love of football.

“Mahraganat” singer Ahmed Khaled Khamis, known as “Kozbara”, who played the character “Hatta”, was the discovery of this movie. Despite it being his first time acting, he is basically a young “Mahraganat” singer, but the comedic performance he gave foretells a star who will compete with major comedy stars. Soon for his ability to make me laugh, without much effort, and his distinctiveness with pure Egyptian features.

Abd al-Rahman Muhammad, who played the character of “Omar,” the promising comedian whose scenes never ceased to make viewers laugh in the cinema, appears as a light shadow of the late artist Alaa Wali al-Din, bearing many of his features and spirit, and wearing his glasses. While watching him, you do not feel that he is acting or that he is struggling to blend in. Rather, you laugh as soon as he appears on the screen. His presence with Coriander, and their match in the film, was a discovery for a new generation of young comedy presenters.

Ahmed Hossam, the Egyptian football player known as Mido, or “Mr. Shalash,” was a real surprise, and at first glance you would not recognize him. With those thick glasses, loose clothes, and a flabby body, “Mido” was able to quickly integrate into the world of cinema, and play his role capably. The features of Captain Hassan Shehata, coach of the Egyptian national team, remind us of his calmness, which turns into a storm when defeat looms. The matter did not stop there. Rather, the author repeated the famous dispute between Mido and Captain Hassan Shehata in a scene in the movie between “Omar” and “Coriander” to make you laugh heartily, as you saw the hero of the situation present, trying to calm both parties, remembering the real dispute in Mido’s voice at the time.

A director who specializes in writing

Iyad Saleh, a film director and writer, directed many documentaries, worked as an assistant director, and participated in writing many television dramas, in addition to several television programs, including “Her Excellency.”

Ten years ago, Iyad presented a documentary film entitled “The Lost Football Years” in which he wondered about the reasons for Egypt’s absence from the World Cup. It seems that this dream continued to haunt him until the opportunity came this time, but because he was the author of his first cinematic work, and it revolves around football.

Iyad Saleh says to Al Jazeera Net, “The Heroes School is my real school, and most of those characters that appeared in the film I lived with, and I was a high school student, and my dream was to present the son of the country in the popular areas as he is as I knew him among my colleagues, and not like that image that spread over the years.” "The past few years he has been drowning in bullying, drugs, and methods of dialogue that are not similar to ours."

Regarding the reactions to the film, Saleh says, “The greatest gift that I received after showing the film was the reaction of the mothers and fathers about their happiness with the ideas that they liked, and that the film greatly influenced their children, so that they would know how much the parents are making a great effort to provide good opportunities for their children’s lives, in addition to the absence of the film.” "One of the strange ideas that spread among young people today."

The author succeeded in bringing us back to that rule that we have no longer even mentioned, which is, does the audience determine what the creator presents or vice versa? He confirms that it is possible for cinema to draw the lines of society and not always the other way around...to bring us back with him this time to memories that we have almost forgotten due to their prolonged distortion. Despite the dialect, clothing and hairstyles, that Egyptian neighborhood whose details we have missed in recent years has emerged, either as a dark marginalization among the crimes... And loss, or extreme wealth among luxurious palaces, and an extravagant life spent with Western ideas.

Directing is a skill of beauty and ease

The first times in film directing for many directors come with trembling or dullness, but “Al-Harifa” had a lot of effort and excellence by its director, Raouf Al-Sayed, starting with the general shots of the streets and small playgrounds in the neighborhoods with those that parallel them in the top clubs, to realize the extent of the delightful details of the Egyptian street. And the different needs of its various classes.

The author and the director coordinated in drawing attention to the world of the neighborhood and its occasions, as we saw in the scene of the “upholstery” celebration common in popular areas, which is the occasion of preparing marital bedding and celebrating its preparations, compared to the scenes of loud, expensive parties for the wealthy.

Between the warmth and narrowness of middle-class homes, the widening distances between the palace rooms of the rich, and their individualism, between attempts to integrate, through the language and signs of different social classes, and small successes in creating friendships in an ocean of anticipation, we touched all of these feelings as we watched the film immersed in the atmosphere of the homes, their smell, the streets, and their noise.

The director also succeeded in utilizing the potential of his heroes despite their limited acting experience. Indeed, it was the first attempt for most of them without falling into the trap of exaggeration or detracting from their roles, as every character enters your heart without asking permission.

Ahmed Ghazi, one of the heroes of the movie “Al-Harifa” (social networking sites)

Tarek El-Ganaini is an adventurous and intelligent maestro

A talented actor, writer or director can only get a chance through an adventurous producer who bets on new energies. In the movie “Al-Harifa”, Tariq Al-Ganaini succeeded in proving to others that he is a strong bettor. The matter is not merely about providing an opportunity for unknown young people to compete with big stars in one season, but rather because of his enthusiasm for such ideas that no one else presents. In recent years we have seen many works signed by Al-Ganaini, and all... What unites them is that they are different from the prevailing... Only this year, and in less than two months, “Special Case” came to the cinema and on the platforms, to occupy the throne of viewing par excellence.

“Al-Harifa” topped the box office for 5 full weeks and achieved the highest revenues to date, crossing the 40 million pound barrier as of this writing, and competing with major stars. Such as: Muhammad Adel Imam and Majed Al-Kedwany in the movie “Abu Nasab”, “Maqsoum” starring Laila Alawi, “Shamarikh” starring Aser Yassin, and “Journey 404” starring Mona Zaki.

A winning artistic mixture

For years, we may have searched for a long time and not found a movie that we can enjoy with our children without fear of passing on ideas or practices that do not resemble ours. “Al-Harifa” was able to make that choice with ease and beauty. While you enjoy a dazzling and easy acting performance, free of complications and exaggeration, you will not worry about the expected obscene insults, you will not find the sight of drugs and their marketing as an easy solution, and you will not pollute your hearing with clips of festival songs, which oscillate between describing an obscene act, or an act contrary to religion and common sense.

“Al-Harifa” came to confirm that with the door to creativity opened for writers with the encouragement of a producer who has another view of art other than generating revenues immersed in tampering with constants... and with a director who wants to leave a distinctive impact, we can create a distinctive, winning and clean artistic mixture.

Source: Al Jazeera